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' l dry M57414 (No Model.) 7 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' A. MATITSGH. LACE MAKING MACHINE.

No. 586,136. Patented July 13, 1897.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' A. MATITSCI-I'.

LAGE MAKING MACHINE.

No. 586,136. Patented July 13, 1897.

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NITED STATES PATENT Trice.

AUGUST MATITSOH, OF VIENNA, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

LACE-MAKING MACHINE.

srnoirrcnrron forming part of Letters Patent No. 586,136, dated July 13, 1897..

Serial No. 625,852. (No model.)

To all w/tont 71/; many concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUST MATITSCH, a subject of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, residing at Vienna, in the Province of Lower Austria, in the Empire of Austria-Hungary, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lace-Making Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a machine for making pillow-lace from the bobbin-threads alone without the aid of warp-threads.

In this machine-the place of the needles, the pillow, and the pattern of lace necessary in making pillow-lace by hand is entirely taken by suitable mechanism, and the finished work can be taken oif and wound up at any desired times, so that all requirements for the production of genuine pillow-lace are It is consequently possible with this machine, as distinguished from known machines for making pillow-lace, first, to place any desired bobbin-threads out of operation for as long and as often as desired, so that during this time they cannot share in any way in the prod uction of the crossings, twists, braidin gs, and weavings (hereinafter generally termed twists for the sake of shortness) that form the lace; second, to twist any desired bobbinthreads together, and consequently to make the lace with them alone without the aid of warp-threads; third, to arrange the twists in orderin any desired sequence; fourth, to employ each thread in exactly the same manner as in making pillow-lace by hand and to pass it gradually from one edge of the lace to the other, if this is required by the construction of the lace, whereby it is possible to produce indivisible grounds; fifth, to hold the finished "twists at any desired point for any desired length of time, and, sixth, to wind up the finished lace, if desired, only after the completion of an entire pattern.

For the purpose of enabling a large number of strips to be made at one and the same time it is further necessary that, in a manner similar to that of existing bobbin-net and like machines for making net-lace, in all the strips that are made simultaneously, the threads occupying the same places therein make the same twists, so that the twists of the first, second, and every succeeding thread of one strip will also be made by all the first, second, and succeeding threads of ihe other strips-i. 6., all the threads of a series will execute the same movements.

A pillow-lace machine that fulfils all these requirements in a perfect manner is represented in side elevation in Figure 1 of the ac companying drawings. Figs. 2, 8, and 4 serve to illustrate the method of working of the machine.

In this machine the bobbin-threads, which alone are employed to form the lace,are guided by carriages which are moved in combs by means of long toothed wheels, hereinafter referred to as rollers, in a manner similar to that employed in .the so-called rollermachines. By means of pickers such. as are employed in machines for making bobbin-net -in strips, and with the aid of the catch-bars employed in the well-known Levers lace-machines, all the carriages which are shifted by the pickers can be simultaneously arrested. The pickers are actuated by means of jacquards, and as the former are arranged independently of one another any desired number of carriages can be held back as often and as long as desired in accordance with the pattern of the jacquard-cards. On the release of the carriages they pass-into a third comb arranged between the two combs, and the longitudinal movement of the said third comb causes the lateral movement of the bobbin-threads according to the construction of the ground of the lace.

After the completion of the twists formed by the action of the carriages the said twists are held by means of needles until new twists are added thereto, whereupon the needles are withdrawn from the first-mentioned twists, which are no longer subject to alteration of their form and position relative to one another.

The movements of the needles, which are independent of one another, are also caused by means of jacquards, so that any desired ter are rotated.

movement and position can be given to the needles according to the pattern-card. On the completion of a figure the lace is wound upon the lace-beam also by the action of a jacquard, so that it can be effected at any desired times and to any desired extent.

As shown in Fig. 1, there are employed for receiving and guiding the carriages A and A three combsa front comb O, a middle comb C and a back comb O which are arranged in the same are of a circle in such a manner that a vertical line drawn from the center at of the said circle will fall into the center of the vacant space between the front and middle combs. In this intermediate space and immediately under the combs C and C there are arranged the thick-thread or warp bars B with their bearings, which are not essential to the machine, but are of advantage for certain purposesnamely,for guiding the lacingthreads that connect together the several strips of lace, the threads that serve for holding the purls, especially in making guipure lace, and of the pattern or thick threads which form the outline of the figures. The front comb O is adapted to be rotated outwardly about its center m, (as in Levers machines,) and thus facilitates the drawing of the threads into the thick-thread bars. The middle comb C is capable of being moved horizontally lengthwise in the same manner as in bobbin-net machines by means of laterally-arranged levers and cams. The back comb C is situated directly behind the middle comb without touching the same and is fixed. Under each of the combs O and C there is arranged, as in roller-machines, a toothed roller R or R These rollers engage in toothed arcs on the carriages A A and thereby move these in the comb-slots from one comb into the other. As the corresponding slots in all three combs are situated, respectively, in the same vertical plane, the carriages can be moved through all the three combs.

The carriages A and A differ from those employed in roller-machines in that their side edges are prolonged to the point of intersection. The points thus formed where the bobbin-threads pass out to form the twists are situated directly under the center m of the circle.

For each comb-slot there are provided two pickers P and P, which prevent the carriages held by them from passing out of the front or the back comb into the middle comb.

For this purpose they are guided with their upper free ends in the comb-slots of C and 0 respectively, while their lower ends are mounted loosely on fixed axles d and (P, which are fixed by means of bearings to the corresponding comb-bars c and 0 111 that way the pickers of these machines differ from those of ordinary bobbin-net machines, in which the pickers are fixed to the two axles and are all turned up together when the lat- Before the pickers are rotated the carriages are situated in the front and middle combs and outside the rollers R and R and are prevented from slipping down by bearing against the teeth of these rollers. When the pickers are turned outward, they engage with the carriage-racks and rotate the carriages outwardly, so that the latter pass out of contact with the rollers and therefore cannot be moved into the middle comb by the said rollers during their subsequent rotation.

The connection of the pickers with the slides of the two jacquards that operate them is effected by coupling to the pickers (in a manner analogous to that of the spring threadbars in Levers machines) steel bars B B of which all those whose pickers occupy the same position in the strips of lace are connected to a separate bar 8 or 8 which is held parallel to the longitudinal direction of the machine by means of rods h or 7%, which are them selves capable of horizontal movement in fixed guides F and F The back ends of the levers h 71 are mounted on bolts 2 a which carry rollers and are guided thereby in vertical slots in levers H and H respectively,

to which are movably attached in a similar manner the steel bars B and B that are connected to the slides of the jacquards. Since, as stated at the beginning, the similar threads in all the strips of the lace make the same movements, and consequently, also, the carriages situated in the same positions must both commence and cease to move simultaneously, the said carriages must therefore always be kept back simultaneously in the combs by means of the pickers. In conse quence of the above-described connection it is possible to restrict the numbers of the slides of the jacquards to so many as are necessary for the pickers of one strip, because both the pickers and the levers H H are rotatable independently of one another on their axles d d and ct (t respectively, and each bar 8 or s connects all those pickers that assume the same position.

The jacquards are the known fine-bar jacquards which serve in Levers machines for moving the rods for the warp-threads. As soon as they are put into operation, wherever the wire is not raised by the patterncard, the corresponding slide is pushed backward. This shifting is transferred by the said rods and levers to the pickers P P ,which are turned outward in order to hold the carriages back until the rollers R R have completed their inward rotation. Two longitudinal bars M and M which can be moved against the pickers, bring the turned-back pickers into their original position, whereby the carriages are liberated and in consequence of their weight slide down in the combs till they are arrested by the rollers. The carriages of the front row are located before the engagement of the pickers entirely in the front comb. The carriages of the back row, on the contrary, are located at the moment of the engagement of the pickers simultaneously IIO in the middle and'back combs. As now the back pickers come into engagement with the carriages only when the latter are in the middle comb their outward rotation cannot push the carriages completely back into the back comb. In order to effect this,there is provided a toothed bar L, which is essentially like the lockers of the so-called locker-machines and consists of a longitudinal bar that is carried by an arm L, which is placed on a stud D and can be raised and lowered from an axle D by means of an arm L As soon as the axle D is rotated in the sense of the hands of a watch the locker L engages in the toothed arcs of the carriages A This happens after the carriages not held by the back pickers have been moved into the middle comb by the rollers and have been carried forward by the front pickers. After the locker has entered the toothed arcs the pickers pass out of the latter and return into their original position. The arm L is now rotated outward about the stud D, whereby the locker carries the carriages completely into the back comb and holds them fast in the same till the locker is taken out and the carriages are thereby again liberated and return into their original position.

The jacquards that operate the pickers come into action before the carriages are transferred to the middle comb. When the carriages have entered the middle comb, the latter is shifted, in accordance with the 0011- strnction of the lace-ground, by the laterallyapplied cams. As every picker independently of the others holds the corresponding carriage back in the front orback comb and every picker can be operated in any desired manner by the jacquard, it follows that any desired carriages can be held back in these two combs as often as desired and as long as desired. Since, however, in order to produce a twist it is necessary to transfer the corresponding carriages from one comb into the other, no twist can be formed by the corresponding bobbin-threads while the carriages are so held back. It is clear from this that any desired bobbin-threads can be kept out of operation or be crossed as often or as long as desired. The arranging of the twists in order can, however, take place in any desired sequence, as illustrated by Fig. 2 of the drawings,which represents a strip of lace produced by machine and having longitudinal edges Ct a and b 1); whereas, in fact, in the machines hitherto known all twists falling in the same horizontal transverse line-e. g., 1 1are produced simultaneously, because all the carriages are simultaneously operative, and therefore work in rows. This simultaneous production of the twists in the same horizontal line is in no way necessary in the present machine, nor is it any more necessary that a twist row be complete before another row can be begun. Moreover, as in hand pillow-lace I making all twists falling in the diagonal 2 2 can be produced one after another, afterward those of the diagonal 3 3', and so 011. Furthermore, it is not necessary to keep to a definite direction, so that, for example, first all the twists of the space I can be completed, then those of the space 11, then those of the space III, and so on. In connection with this, moreover, there is obtained over the making of pillow-lace by hand the advantage that instead of one strip several such are prepared simultaneously, and in each of these strips several twists can be made at once.

If the kind of the lace to be produced renders it necessary, each thread can, just as in making pillow-lace by hand, be employed in exactly the same way and be carried gradually from one edge of the lace to the other, as shown by Fig. 3, which represents a torchon ground, the production of which cannot be effected with any of the known lace-machines.

The carriages may be caused to enter the middle comb and the latter shifted in any desired order or manner, according to the laceground to be produced. I

The machine can thus be arranged, first, that any desired bobbin-threads of each or either row will cross one another separately, and it may be any desired carriages will pass min the same comb from right to left, or vice versa, according to the shifting of the middle comb; second, that simultaneously any desired bobbin-threads of the front row will cross with any desired bobbin-threads of the back row and any desired carriages pass from the front row into the back row, and vice versa. Therefore any desired bobbin-threads whatever can cross with one another and be shifted in the comb-slots at any desired time and in any desired direction, so that by means of this machine all lace-grounds and laces can be made that are produced by hand. Besides the correct production of the twists it is necessary for the beautiful appearance of lace also that the twists be brought into the correct position in relation to one another and be held fast therein until they are prevented from changing form and position in the pattern by the making of new twists in succession thereto. For this purpose there are employed needles N N N which are equal in number to the comb-slots, and which are ar ranged so as to be capable of moving forward and backward and up and down separately from one another in two guides E and E and independently in vertical planes. These needles can be moved laterally only in union with their guides andby moving the latter, so that,

therefore, the needles are compelled to penein all the strips always have like movements, the said needles are connected together in the same manner as the pickers, and for this purpose each of the bars T T is connected to a steel bar 5 and the several bars 12 are then each connected by means of a cross-bar a rod 71 and an arm H to a steel bar B The bars 13 are again connected to the slides of one of the jacquards that serve to move the needles. One jacquard serves to draw back the needles that hold the twists, so that they come out of contact with the threads, and as this drawing back always takes place to the same extent a fine-bar jacquard is sufficient.

The second jacquard, which serves to lift the needles, is designed to produce a varying height of lift, because the same needle must lift the twists to a Varying height, according as this is necessitated by the joining to twists that are already held tight. Consequently a spring-dropper jacquard of the kind used in Levers machines for operating the warp top or thick-thread bars may be employed with advantage. The height of lift is determined by the number and thickness of the droppers employed for the several lifts. The said height can therefore be varied as desired at any desired times. Consequently after the completion of a twist the latter can be lifted to any desired height in a vertical direction by means of the needle which is inserted under it and immediately above the carriages forming the said twist.

Fig. 1 shows the needle N inserted and in its highest position, while the needle N has also been inserted, but is in a lower position,

and the needle N which has been completely drawn out of the threads and been brought.

into its lowest position, is just beginning its forward movement for the purpose of being inserted afresh. When the slide of the jacquard is drawn back, then the needles connected thereto also move back, and the upwardly-projecting arms of the bent levers strike against a longitudinal bar M whereby they are turned down, so that the needles assume the lowest position when they arrive at l The i the end of their backward movement. needles that are drawn out are then brought forward while in their low position for the purpose of being inserted under the twists which have been completed and fixed into the newly-made twists.

the comb s and which presses in its forward movement upon those bars T which are drawn out of the needles.

threads, then the needles are lifted accordingly.

This is effected by means of a secondlongitudinal bar M, which is capable of moving horizontally in relation to The needles situated at the same place are for this reason severally connected by means of bars and levers b 6 19 ,8 8 s, 7?.4 k h, H H H, and B B B to a box of the springdropper jacquard. As long as the boxes remain in the same position the needles will keep the twists in the same position. Their movement is produced, like the drawing back of the slides, (in the fine-bar jacquard,) by means of the pattern-card, so that therefore the movement and position of the needles can be varied at will, in contradistinction to the usual lace-machines in which one of the two needle-bars remains inserted only until the next row of twists has been formed and the needles of the second needlebar begin to lift this newly-formed row of twists. In all such machines twisting can only be done in rows at a time, and each row of twists thereby produced is lifted by the needles immediately after completion, so that in consequence of the equal lift or stroke of both needle-bars all the twists are lifted to the same height and are held for the same length of time. The manner of operation in completing the lace in the present improved machine is as follows when, as shown in Fig. 4, all the twists a b c d falling successively one after another into the diagonal l 1' are first made and then in the same manner the twists of 5 0 d falling into the diagonal 2 2: First the needle belonging to the twist or is inserted under the latter and lifts it into position (a) shown and holds it in that position. After the formation of the twist b the corresponding needle is inserted and lifts it into the position (b) and holds it there. When the following twist a is to be added underneath the twist a, the needle which holds the twist or is withdrawn and is at once moved to pass under the newly-formed twist d The latter is then lifted until it assumes the position (06") shown. When the needle is drawn away from the twist a, the latter is alreadyheld by the adjacent finished twists and cannot therefore get out of its place. The needle mechanism above described thus brings the twist exactly to the place which is determined by the pattern and thus acts as a substitute for the card or parchment used in making pillow-lace by hand. It is also a substitute for the needles and the pillow of the hand pillow-lace worker, because the twists are held in the places determined by the design until, by the addition of further adjacent twists, it is rendered impossible for the finished twists to get out of shape and place, whereas in lace making machines of the kind heretofore employed, working in rows at a time, each row of twists is lifted at once and to the same height each time,so that the finished goods must be wound upon the lace-beam at once and uniformly. This is effected in the improved machine only after an entire pattern has been completed.

As shown in Fig. 1, the lace is passed over a guide-bar G, is then caught by the pegs of IOC a winding-up beam H, and is then passed on to the lace-beam W, which is driven by means of friction by the winding-up beam.

Thelatter has imparted to it instead of a continuously progressive rotation a variable rotation, which is determined in each case by the time necessary for the completion of the pattern and by the amount of the Winding up of the lace, and which is produced by means of the spring-dropper jacquard that causes the up-and-down movement of the needles, and of a special winding apparatus actuated by the jacquard just mentioned. This apparatus comprises a ratchet-wheel '2", fixed to the winding-up beam H, and a toothed wheel 4", which is loose on the beam H. The wheel r engages in a rack r which is guided horizontally by rollers g and a guide f and is connected in a manner similar to that of the needles with a box of the spring-dropper jacquard by means of a bar W, a lever H and a bar B Upon the toothed wheel r there is mounted a pawl 70', which engages in the ratchet-wheel and causes step-by-step rotation of the latter in one direction, while the return rotation of the same is prevented by a pawl 75.

The drawing back of the rack by the jacq uard produces a common rotation of the two wheels 1" and r in the direction of the arrow, and the winding-up beam is rotated in the same direction. When the operation of the jacquard ceases, a spring connected to the rack r returns the lever mechanism into its initial position, the wheel 4" is rotated in the direction opposite to that of the arrow, and the ratchet-wheel 0" remains at rest, because on the one hand the pawl 7c slips over it, and on the other hand the pawl does not permit the ratchet-wheel to move in that direction. Therefore the winding up of the finished lace is only done when the box provided for the winding mechanism is moved by the patterncard of the jacquard. The size of the piece of lace wound up depends on the movement of the box determined by the spring-droppers.

I claim 1. The combination of three combs in the same are of a circle, the center comb adapted to be shifted longitudinally, and carriages adapted to be moved out of one comb into another, of j acquard-controlled pickers, having independent motion, adapted to move the carriages back in the combs, for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination of three combs in the same are of a circle, the center comb adapted to be shifted longitudinally, and carriages adapted to be moved out of one comb into another; of jacquard-controlled pickers having independent motion adapted to move the carriages back into the combs, and a locker for lifting the pickenheld carriages into the rear comb, for the purposes set forth.

The combination with the twist-forming carriages, of j acquard-controlled needles having motion independently of one another to hold the finished twists in any required position and as long as required, thereby preventing alterations in the form and position of said twists in the pattern, substantially as set forth.

t. The combination with the twist-forming devices, of a winding mechanism for the finished lace, comprising a winding-beam and a jacquardcontrolled operating mechanism imparting to the beam an intermittent rotation in accordance with the formation of the fabric, for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination with the twist-forming devices and independently movable jacquard-controlled needles to hold the finished twists in the required positions; of a winding mechanism comprising a winding-bean1 and jacquard-controlled operating mechanism to impart to said beam an intermittent rotation in accordance with the movements of said needles, for thevpurpose set forth.

6. The combination with the twist-forming devices and independently movable needles adapted to be operated by a jacquard mechanism to hold the finished twists in the required positions; of a winding beam and mechanism adapted to be operated by the same jacquard mechanism that operates the needles, to revolve the beam intermittingly in accordance with the movements of said needles, for the purpose set forth.

7. The combination with the carriages A A toothed rollers R R and the combs O C 0 arranged for operation as described; of the jacquard-controlled pickers P P having motion independently of one another, for the purpose set forth.

8. The combination with the carriages A A the toothed rollers R R and the combs O C 0 arranged for operation as described; of the jacquard-controlled pickers P P havin g motion independently of one another, and a locker for lifting the picker-held carriages into the rear comb, for the purpose set forth.

9. The combination with the carriages A A of the needles N N N and jacquardcontrolled mechanism for imparting to said needles a horizontal and vertical reciprocating motion independently of one another, for the purpose set forth.

10. The combination with the carriages A A of the needles N N N appliances adapted to be operated by a jacquard mechanism to impart to said needles a horizontal reciprocating movement, and appliances adapted to be operated bya second jacquard mechanism to impart to said needles a vertical reciprocating motion, for the purpose set forth.

11. The combination with the needles N N N and mechanisms for imparting to said needles a horizontal and vertical reciprocating motion, said mechanisms adapted to be controlled by two jacquards of a winding mechanism controlled by one of the jacquards and consisting-of'a winding-drum, a roller in frictional contact therewith, a pinion loose on said roller and carrying an actuating-pawl, a ratchet-wheel fast on the roller-journal engaged by said pawl, a rack-bar in gear with the aforesaid pinion, and intermediate connections connecting the rack-bar with the jacquard, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. [0

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AUGUST MATITSCII. Witnesses:

HARRY BELMONT, KARL RooH. 

